


Like a Thief in the Night

by firelord65



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Force Bond (Star Wars), Post-Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-17 15:01:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29227404
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/firelord65/pseuds/firelord65
Summary: Their bond won't let them be alone. At least this time it's the middle of the night and they can't get into a shouting match.
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 8
Kudos: 34
Collections: To Find Your Kiss: The Reylo Fanfiction Anthology's Valentine's Day Exchange





	Like a Thief in the Night

**Author's Note:**

  * For [chagrins](https://archiveofourown.org/users/chagrins/gifts).



"You were dreaming about them again."

Rey glowers at him. She can see him - just him - set against the bulkheads of the Falcon. "Get out of my head," she hisses, keeping her voice low. The last thing that she wants is for someone to walk in while they're having this conversation.

Kylo lifts one shoulder and drops it back down. "Get out of mine," he retorts back.

She shifts on the bed, pulling the sheets up to cover her more fully. She isn't _indecent_ or anything but the chill from space always sinks in when she's first woken up. After a moment of pointedly looking away, Rey flicks her eyes back to check. Yep. He's still there.

"Don't you have something better to do than lurk in my dreams?"

"Oh, absolutely," he snaps back vehemently. "What I wouldn't give to break this connection of ours."

Rey stills. Her anger has slid aside to make way for shock. She has tried to feel the same way for a while, but regardless of everything she doesn't. Her discomfort must show on her face because Kylo arcs an eyebrow and pushes off from the wall to approach. The cabin is tight quarters and his height makes him loom even without the bunk just above Rey's head.

"So she says one thing and means another," Kylo remarks. Rey pulls her knees to her chest and forces herself to look away again. The blank stretch of wall next to her bed is still strange. She expects to wake and see an ocean of tick marks etched there even after months away from Jakku. "You don't want the connection to go," he continues.

"You like it." His tone is straightforward, honest.

Rey chews through indecision before deciding that it just isn't worth the effort to try and obscure the truth. Of course it's the truth. He's here, bonded to her through lightyears of distance and a galaxy's worth of souls. "No one wants to be alone, Ben," she murmurs.

The towering figure next to her freezes. She can see him in the corner of her eye still, never mind feeling his presence in the Force. "I would have thought that you of all people would understand that." His silence feels meaningful, but then again Rey has hoped to get through to him before and been disappointed. Even now she's aware that she's sharing space with the new, self-proclaimed Supreme Leader of the galaxy. The months have not been kind since Crait.

Rey has been shot across the stars more times than she could count as the Resistance scrambles to regroup, rebuild, and retreat in what seems like equal measure. Whether she's into passenger cabins like now on the Falcon or trudging through the elements at whatever new base has been cobbled together, Rey has not found the peace and purpose that she had hoped to find when she set out for Ahch-To. Mostly though what bothers her is being alone. Poe, Finn, Rose - they all have a set place and purpose they can fulfill within the Resistance.

Her task is ephemeral at best, non-existent at worst. Learning from the Jedi texts or from Leia is fascinating, yes, but it has yet to serve a concrete purpose for the Resistance. Instead, Rey is left with stronger powers that have so far only managed to make these moments where their bond links them all the more difficult to cut off.

Rey shakes her head to escape from the downward spiral of those thoughts. She could blame it on Kylo showing up and pushing her buttons, but really she knew this negative pall came from a familiar source.

"I seem to recall someone telling me once that we aren't truly alone," he says quietly, adopting her hushed tones. His body leans down and Rey could swear that she feels the bunk dip just a bit more as Kylo sits on the edge.

She closes her eyes like that might allow her to pretend this is just another dream. It isn't, she knows that. But the delusion also allows her to pretend that this is Ben next to her, reaching out.

"It's hard to feel that way when the people we care about are travelling a path that we can't follow," Rey murmurs.

"Can't or won't?"

Rey shakes her head. "It's all the same, Ben," she insists. "I can't and you won't."

They've had this conversation before with varying levels of hotheaded responses thrown at one another. In the dark of the cabin - an artificial night time that regardless Rey has come to appreciate - and with the knowledge that others may hear, this is the first time that she's had to hold back. Or at least the first time that she's allowed herself to.

Instead Rey leans back and presses herself against his shoulder. He's warm even though she knows he isn't really here. He's kind to keep following her lead even though she knows that he could easily start back up with his usual demands and arguments. He's Ben even though she knows he's still Kylo Ren, too.

She expects him to react or push her away. When he doesn't, Rey lets out a soft sigh of relief.

"I don't think that I can let them go." Their proximity, such as it is, coaxes the admission from her easily.

Ben hums. She can feel his shoulder move slightly as he nods. "I know," he replies. There's a beat before- "You should, though."

It's Rey's turn to lift an eyebrow. "Like you did? I should cast my parents aside the same way that you struck down yours?"

He makes another noise deep in his chest. "Well, that would be difficult with them being dead. But yes. You shouldn't let them keep this power over you. They didn't care about you. They left you to die in the hands of a junk trader because they saw you as collateral, not as a person," Ben says.

"You can't know that," Rey insists. He lets it go this time. Most times he doesn't, reminding her that he knows exactly what she feels. He's telling the truth and Rey chooses instead to ignore it. Like now.

"Fine, fine." Ben lifts a hand in surrender. "They may have loved you dearly and been forced to leave you behind. Regardless, they _did_ leave you behind. It's okay to choose to leave their memory where it belongs. In the past."

It sounds simple, deceptively so, but Rey cannot deny that it would be easier. The clawing ache of loss in her chest has been present for so long. What would it be like to wake up and not have that holding her back? Rey presses the heel of her hand to her eyes to whisk away the hot tears that have tried to escape.

"Why are you being kind tonight?" she asks. The question hangs in the air.

"I don't know," he finally responds. "Would you rather I wasn't?"

She doesn't and he clearly knows that. He's giving her the option though to go back to the shouting and the anger and the slow roil building up to an inevitable clash. Rey tips her head onto his shoulder instead.

"I'd rather it be this way all the time," she replies earnestly.

He doesn't respond aloud; But Rey feels him shift again before the bond snaps and she's left again alone. There's a warm spot left on the bunk and the lingering feeling of his lips against her hair.


End file.
